u/Glittering-Wall2557

I’ve had my Garmin Forerunner 245 for a bit over 6 years now. It still mostly works, though I find it a bit laggy in terms of pace occasionally (or maybe that’s just my perception of how fast I’m running) and the GPS can go a bit weird at times making me look like I’ve been an Olympic sprinter. I think it’s lasted so long because I haven’t always been a consistent runner since I got it, but over the last few years I have been.

What’s the best replacement for it? Some helpful things in terms of what I’m looking for:
-I run 2-3x a week and at the moment don’t run much further than 10k in one go, though i’d like to
-It needs to support downloadable workouts
-I also strength train once a week so one that tracks that is ideal
-I wear it all day to track general activity levels but I don’t wear it at night to track sleep
-I have very slim wrists
-I’m also interested in the idea of navigation as I use Strava maps to generate routes for me, but often find I forget what the route was and have to keep getting my phone out to check where I am on the route, especially on longer runs or in unfamiliar places. It isn’t too much of a hassle but I could be persuaded to pay a bit more for a watch with some kind of navigation system. I’d take my phone anyway but I like the idea of the watch telling me where to go

I’ve only ever had Garmin watches so it’s what I’m used to, but I would be happy to try a different brand if it’s better value for money.

I think I just need someone to tell me I’m not being weird about this and that it’s ok.

A friend who I’ve known since school always organises a big group weekend away to celebrate his birthday. He usually books a big hostel or bunkhouse for people to stay in and invites pretty much all of his friends. I was actually friends with his wife first but got to know him through her. He always used to invite me but I could never make it, and eventually we kind of lost touch, we live a bit of a distance from each other now.

Last year he didn’t invite me and posted photos on Instagram about how great a time he’d had. I saw the post and thought “oh that’s really nice that they had a nice time together” so I liked it and didn’t think anything else of it. Next thing I’m getting a message from him saying he felt like he had to explain why he hadn’t invited me (basically because we’d lost touch), which I hadn’t really expected at all. It was nice of him to do that but I didn’t need an explanation, I was just glad they’d had a nice time. Managed to hang out with his wife for a bit a few months later (though he was ill and couldn’t make it) so that was nice.

Anyway this year he invited me to the weekend away a while back. It was a Facebook event, I said I was a maybe. Then stressed about it for ages because I was free, but he’d invited probably about 50 people, most of whom I didn’t know, and I’m in a burnout phase at the moment where my social battery doesn’t have much juice, and the idea of spending three nights away not just socialising with, but also sharing a room with, relative strangers felt like too much. If it was just like us, my friends and two or three others it’d be fine but it’s more than that.

The stupid thing is I’ve been feeling isolated recently and I’d have loved to see him & his wife on their own but my brain could not cope with the idea of a big social thing like that. I looked into the idea of staying elsewhere and dropping in, or just going just for a day but it wasn’t really feasible, the bunkhouse he’s booked is fairly remote in a national park, and it’s a bank holiday weekend in the UK so alternative accommodation nearby wasn’t really available.

So in pure ridiculous form I just put off replying because 1) I felt anxious about saying no when he’d clearly thought about it and it was really nice of him to invite me and 2) I kept forgetting anyway. And left myself as a Maybe. Which I hate when other people do.

He’s messaged me a few hours ago asking if I am coming and said I can bring my partner if I want to (but he would also struggle with this kind of thing socially). I responded to him trying to be as honest as possible, but he’s not responded to it - though he also hasn’t read it.

I just wish I could be up for things like that and maybe a few years ago I would have been but not right now. Before I knew myself to be neurodivergent I’d have just pushed myself to do it but now I just can’t or I pay the price of exhaustion afterwards. I’m feeling it now after a month full of weekends with plans and disrupted routines.

I hate the contradiction of “I want friends and I want to see people” and “people are exhausting and I just want to be in my cocoon at home”.